This invention relates to silverware baskets for dishwashers.
Silverware in a dishwasher is generally more difficult to dry than other items. This difficulty is believed due at least in part to the phenomenon known as "nesting" which results when silverware items are in close contact with one another such as two spoons stacked together. Because of their close proximity, water tends to be retained between the "nested" items rendering it difficult to evaporate. An additional problem created by "nesting" is that food soils may be trapped between nested items degrading wash performance.
Silverware baskets employed in commercially available dishwashers come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Typically, these baskets include a gridded bottom wall having a relatively large open area to permit washing action in the basket by washing liquid entering from beneath the basket as well as from above. Most grid bottoms are of generally planar construction as shown in FIG. 1A which can contribute to nesting by permitting silverware items to slide across the planar surface. The washing action may itself jostle silverware items along the surface into nesting contact with other items.
One approach known in the art for reducing nesting involves providing relatively large upwardly extending fingers 1 spaced about the bottom which may be cylindrical as shown in FIG. 1B or tapered as described in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,182,854 to Geller. Another approach as illustrated in FIG. 1C, involves a grid having a plurality of square segments 2 formed by intersecting co-planar ribs 3 and including within each square segment a pair of intersecting ribs 4 having a point of intersection 5 lower in elevation than the plane of the square segments 2 taking the shape of an inverted pyramid.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a silverware basket which provides a significant improvement in silverware drying performance.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a silverware basket which enhances draining of the water away from the silverware, which increases the open area and which reduces nesting.
It is a further object of the present invention to improve silverware wash and dry performance in dishwashers by providing a silverware basket having a bottom surface which reduces sliding and induces separation of silverware randomly loaded in the basket.